Microbiology
Microbiology
Department website:
Department of Medical Microbiology and Nanobiomedical Engineering ›
Microbiology will be one of the simplest yet most time-consuming subjects during the summer semester of your second year. You will learn about the many microorganisms that cause diseases in the human body. Each microorganism has its own set of unique traits you will need to memorise. The course also includes various case studies and lab reports, making it very detail-oriented.
You are required to have an exercise book from the very beginning. In this book, we not only monitor lab experiments and results throughout the semester, but also keep track of our lab quizzes and tests, which will be checked by our teachers at the end of each class. There are 13 labs in total, each lasting 2 hours and 45 minutes. Attendance is mandatory to pass the course.
In 2023/2024, tablets or loose pieces of paper were not accepted as substitutes for exercise books!
It is important to study the lectures thoroughly, (the primary source of information for the credits) as well as the material from the labs, because most, if not all, questions will come from there.
Lectures are conducted live on Blackboard, and the content is often not fully covered during the scheduled hours, so further individual study is required.
The majority of students found the credits to be somewhat tricky but, in the end, very fair. The credits were easy to understand, and the results were sent to your private UMB email.
Short lab quizzes take place during lab sessions to evaluate students' knowledge, with each quiz worth 10 points. You are given roughly 15 minutes to complete the quiz. Answers must be transferred to an answer sheet attached to the quiz. Students found the quizzes to be very straight forward and fair if you studied the lab material.
In total, there are 3 lab quizzes, allowing for a maximum of 30 obtainable points. To be admitted to the final exam, students must earn at least 18 points (≥60%) from all lab quizzes.
Missed lab quizzes must be made up at the end of the course.
In 2023/2024 there were three credits.
1) General Microbiology (15 questions)
2) Classifications (25 questions)
3) Antimicrobial Therapy (35 questions)
Each question is worth 1 point. The amount of time given depends on how many question there are to answer but was always reasonable. All answers are to be carefully marked on a seperate answer sheet.
All credits take place outside of lab time for students. In a case of justified absence, a student must take the skipped test in the second term, i.e. at the end of the course.
Note that there are no retakes for credits!
Pre exam
For those with fewer than 45 points total (≤60%), a pre-exam consisting of 20 questions is provided, with a pass mark of 12 points to be admitted to the final exam. Please note that if you do not achieve at least 30% of the total points from the credits, you will not be permitted to even take the pre-exam and will have to repeat the entire course.You will be asked to perform tasks similar to what you have practiced during labs, under time constraints.
Admission only if:
all absences excused
not missed more than 3 lectures, and 4 labs (excused)
<60% of total points in every credit
Exemption
If you get over 60% in every partial test and every quiz on your first try, and have no more than one (justified) absence, you are exempted from the practical exam.The final exam consists of 100 MCQs in which you will be asessed on all topics from the course, lasting 2 hours 30 minutes. All answers are to be carefully marked on a seperate answer sheet.
Admission only if:
all absences excused
not missed more than 3 lectures, and 4 labs (excused)
60% of total points in Partial Tests
Exemption
In 2023/2024, if you got ≥94% in all lab quizzes and credits you could be exempted from the final exam.Credit received after passing the final exam.
The grade is taken from the exam.
For the grading scale, consider the department's website.
This page is edited by
Racheal Diyaolu
Class of 2028Esther Towolawi
Class of 2028Julia Dawidowicz
Class of 2027